Friday, July 10, 2009

Lather, Rinse, Re-Beat: Dodgers 11, Mets 2

Charley Steiner on the radio broadcast yesterday said that Livan Hernandez was the first pitcher in Mets history to give up three runs in the first inning of threeconsecutivegames, one of those odd factoids broadcasters often use to fill time with. Still, it gives you a flavor of what the Mets' season has been like. Injuries, and the lost home runs at Citi Field vs. Shea Stadium, have been the dominant narrative of the season. (David Wright alone is missing six or so.)

The Dodgers jumped on Hernandez early for four runs in the first, and cruised after that; Jerry Manuel left him in to self-immolate for eight of the eleven runs, none of which came on a home run. I don't envy the Mets; they're a bad team this year partly because of the spectrum of injuries, but then, that's one of the consequences of building so much through free agency, too.

Minor sub-story: Randy Wolf changed his number to 43, his number while with the Phillies; in his first stint with the Dodgers he was 52, and started this year as 21. I doubt the Mets much cared.